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Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Police said a 28-year-old man accused of strangling then dismembering his girlfriend early Saturday morning told investigators what happened inside the couple's Farmington home.

William M. Dhondt -- who reported his girlfriend, Kaitlin Hehir, 29, missing Saturday night -- described a four-minute period inside the couple's home on the 23800 block of Colchester that ended with Hehir's body being dragged into the basement, dismembered with tools, put in containers and hid in various places in the home, Farmington Public Safety Detective Andrew Morche said in a Berkley courtroom Tuesday.

"The defendant described hitting Kaitlin in the face with a glass cup, causing her to hit her head on a dresser and fall to the ground," he told the court.

Morche said Dhondt then got on top of her and repeatedly hit her in the face and repeatedly slammed her head into the floor.

"The defendant then used his hands to strangle Kaitlin to death as she struggled and fought for her life," he said.

Dhondt was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday and is being held in jail without bond.

Judge James Wittenberg of 45-A District Court entered a not-guilty plea on Dhondt's behalf during his video arraignment and granted his request for a court-appointed attorney.

Dhondt spoke in a clear, calm voice when asked his name and whether he understood the charge. He did not appear to show emotion during his arraignment.

Police went to the couple's home about 10 p.m. Saturday night because Dhondt had reported Hehir missing. While they were there, they found bloody plastic inside garbage bags in the garage, Farmington Public Safety Director Robert Schulz said.

Dhondt "was detained, interviewed, made statements to implicate himself in a crime, and ultimately a search warrant was executed," Schulz said.

Police said Dhondt admitted to having an argument with her that turned physical, but Schulz did not say what that argument was about. He said the couple lived in the home for less than six months and that Farmington police had never been called there previously.

Dhondt, he said, was arrested in 2005 and convicted for misdemeanor embezzlement and was on probation for drunken driving.

He worked as a server at an Olive Garden restaurant in Novi, but is no longer employed there, a company spokesman said Tuesday. It's unclear when or why his employment stopped. Hehir also worked at the Olive Garden in the kitchen.

"She was a member of our family, and everyone there is just devastated by this news," spokesman Mike Bernstein said.

Wittenberg set a pre-exam conference for March 5 and a preliminary examination for March 12 in the case.

Hehir also worked as a clerk in the civil division of 47th District Court, so judges disqualified themselves from hearing the case, and it was moved to Berkley.